6. A new school, new friends and the first kiss 

Much was about to changed in their teenage years. The first big change was that the friends left their secure little school for a bigger one which was located in the center of the city. This meant new environments and new classmates. The night before it was time to start the new school Donghae sneaked home to Hyukjae so that they together could calm their nerves. Upon hearing the well-known knock Hyukjae had at once feelt more calm and he gently jogged to the window to let his friend in. Donghae, however, seemed more stressed up and immediately started pacing back and forth in the room. Hyukjae had to remind him that his parents could hear his steps. The reminder, however, came too late and Donghae just managed to dive under the bed to hide before Hyukjaes father opened the door.

"What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn't you be sleeping by now?"

Hyukjae chuckled nervously before he nodded and sat on the bed. Mr. Lee understood that something was wrong when he noticed that his son was stiff as a stick. He sighed and walked over to the bed and sat down next to his son.

"Are you nervous about tomorrow?" He asked, and put a comforting hand on his son's shoulder.

Hyukjae swallowed hard and tried to think of something appropriate to say. Something that would make his father leave the room as soon as possible.

"Yes, but I guess it will feel better in the morning when I have Donghae and Taeyeon by my side."

His father laughed a little and ruffled his son's hair.

"Ofcourse. You're the supertrio! "He winked at him. "Try to sleep now, the faster you fall asleep the sooner you will meet your friends."

He gave his son a kiss on the forehead before he went out and closed the door behind him. Donghae who basically had held his breath for a few minutes drew a deep breath while he crawled out from his hiding place under the bed. They waited another minute before they dared to talk to each other. It was Hyukjae who finally dared to break the silence.

"If he would just know how soon we would meet" he giggled.

Donghae tried to hold back a laugh and then sat next to Hyukjae on the bed. They were again silent for a moment. There was certainly much to ponder. What had gone around in Hyukjaes head most of the past week was that he hoped that the teachers would not be too strict or worse; that they would treat him differently because he was from a wealthy family. His mother and father had actually discussed the opportunities to start in a fine private school that was located slightly outside the city with him. Only the finest young people got in there. Hyukjae had, however, refused, he didn't want to separate from Donghae and Taeyeon. Moreover Changmin would go there which would have meant that they would have been classmates. Hyukjae came back from his thoughts when he felt that a few fingers closed around his own. He was a little surprised, because even though they often held hands when they were by themselves, it was for the most times Hyukjae who took the initiative for the gesture. He glanced down at the joined fingers with a smile before he met the brown eyes belonging to his beautiful friend. He took his free hand and it over his cheek.

"How does it feel with everything with Minzy now?" He asked as he still held his hand at Donghaes cheek.

Donghae leaned against his hand and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened his eyes, he smiled a little but Hyukjae was still able to discern a hint of sadness in them.

"It still feels a little heavy. I really liked her, but her father got such a good job offer that he simply could not refuse. They seem to have a settled down fine in Ulsan, I talked to her today. "

Hyukjae nodded and felt a little jealous for some strange reason. Sometimes he wished that there was some sort of dictionary where he could look up his own feelings to get some kind of answers about them.

"It feels a bit strange as well, we have been together for a little more than two years now."

Donghae pouted sadly before his mouth was turned into a mischievous smile.

"There's something I haven't told either you or Taeyeon yet!"

Hyukjae looked curiously at his friend. He tried to figure out what it could be but no matter how much he rooted around in his brain, he could not bring himself to come up with something likely (the idea that Donghae really was a superhero in disguise, he quickly sat a side for logical reasons).

"Wait for it ... before we broke up and she moved we kissed with tounge! She thought it was a good parting gesture and I quote her now; I want you to be the first one I kiss for real. "

At the last words he twisted his voice in an attempt to sound girly. It didn't sound much like a girl though, more like a guy with a shrill voice. Although the jealousy felt somewhat stronger now, a great deal of curiosity had been born in Hyukjae aswell.

"Wow! How was it?"

"Wet! It was pretty disgusting at first actually. But then when we had done it a few times it was quite cozy. We did like this."

Donghae held out his hand and began to make circular motion with his tongue on it. Hyukjae wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"Yukkie! That looks sickening! You mean she did that with her tongue, too?"

Donghae laughed and gave Hyukjae a light punch on his arm.

"Don't say that you will start with your germs again!"

"Hey! I never said anything about germs, I just didn't think it looked so charming with all that sloping around!"

"It was actually quite romantic. We went to the woods and down to the lake. I think we sat there for four hours."

Donghae looked dreamingly into the wall in front of them. Hyukjae giggled low.

"Just don't sit here and be too excited!"

A bright red color spread in Donghaes face.

"It was pretty exciting actually, I was forced to sit in a way so she wouldn't see it down there.... you know."

It took a few seconds before Hyukjae understood what he meant, but once the penny dropped, he tuck a whole hand in his mouth to stifle the violent laughter. Donghae laughed a little too before he grabbed hold of a pillow and threw it on Hyukjaes head.

"Ya, it was really terrible. I didn't know what I was supposed to do, what if she had noticed something?"

This got Hyukjae to laugh even more and he finally had to crawl under his blanket and bury his face in a pillow so that the laughter finally could be released. Donghae just shook his head.

"Maybe I should go so Mr Hyukjae can calm down a little. We're supposed to wake up early tomorrow.... Oh, here comes the anxiety again"

Hyukjae stuck out his head from his little cave made of blankets and pillows. Donghae had the same facial expressions as he had when he just arrived. Hyukjae stretched out after Donghaes hand again and squeezed it.

"You don't need to worry. You have me and Taeyeon at your side, we would never let anyone be mean to you."

He knew very well that his friend was worried that the new classmates would for his home situation. The words seemed to be getting him in a better mood, so he stood up and sneaked away toward the window. Before he climbed out, he turned around.

"Thanks Hyukjae"

For the first time it hit Hyukjae how beautiful Donghae actually was. Hyukjae liked girls, that he was quite sure of, but he could still see the beauty of his friend. If he had been a girl, he would certainly have been in love with Donghae.

"See you tomorrow," he whispered.

Donghae nodded and sent him one last smile before he disappeared out of the window. Hyukjae felt his heart pounding in his chest. Somehow, the situation had felt somewhat sensual. Was it because he had thought that if he would have been a girl he probably would have had been in love with Donghae? When he shifted position in the bed, he felt to his surprise that something was hard between his legs. Somehow the story Donghae had told before didn't seem as funny anymore. He sighed before he turned off the light. Strange teenage hormones!

The first day of school began with a disaster. Because of all the nervousness Hyukjae had a difficulty falling asleep the night before and as a result he overslept. His mother had snatched up the door in panic when she noticed that her son hadn't been sitting at the breakfast table. The morning had been spent in pure chaos, he had run to the kitchen while he tried to get his school uniform on at the same time. The cook gave Hyukjae a sandwich before his mother drew him to the family's limo. The driver was a kind middle-aged man named Leeteuk. Hyukjae was very attached to him, he felt more like a friend than a servant. So instead of taking a seat in the Limon's rear (which he was supposed to do), he took a seat in the passenger seat in the front. Leeteuk raised one eyebrow at him at first but then smiled.

"Nice to have the honor to drive you to school young mr. Lee. "

"Hyukjae! You know you can call me by my first name!"

Leeteuk chuckled as he drove out of the driveway.

"You're never sure if your mother is listening. I swear sometimes it feels like she's a ghost, she hears and knows everything! Even if you think it's okay, I have a feeling that it would not be so popular on her part. "

Hyukjae chuckled a little and realized it was true (he took an particular note about his mother being a ghost, it would explain alot of things!). His mother was very careful and fussy about that the service people were professional and formal around the family.

"This is exactly how I didn't want my first day to be like!"

"What do you mean? As I have  understand you want to take the regular school bus. How come? Isn't it cool to arrive in your own limo? I can only imagine the popularity you would get by that!"

Hyukjae wanted nothing more than just to be a normal kid. If he would come to school in a limo every day, it would probably end up with everyone talking about it. Moreover, it would certainly lead people to see him in two different ways; either as a spoiled rich kid who thinks he is better than everyone else, or as the super cool guy and gifts would probably pour over him as an atempt to become his best friend. Neither option was something he wanted. He just wanted it to be like it always had been; He, Donghae and Taeyeon.

He explained this to Leeteuk and the driver smiled proudly.

"You will become a very great man if you continue to have the same mindset as you have now. You should be really proud of yourself Hyukjae. "

Once they reached the school, it was just in time for the bells to ring in for lesson.

"Good luck Kido!" Leeteuk said before the boy jumped out of the car.

"Thanks! I'll update you about the day when I get home"

He took his bag and ran as fast as he could toward the school entrance. Other students who was out in the last second as well looked in amazement at him as they had seen the boy arrive in a limo. Hyukjae however, tried to ignore the attention and looked down into his schedule.

"Classroom 2027b. Where the hell could it be? "He muttered irritably.

He turned and twisted the map he had in his hands. It had been sent home to all new students a week before the schoolstart. He had never been a good orienteer and that in combination with the stress he felt for the moment made the map appear as Latin for him. The sweat began to bead his forehead, and the panic started to become overwhelming.

"Erhm? Are you lost?"

Hyukjae turned around and saw a short boy standing just behind him. He had slightly tousled hair and an long earring in one ear. The boy had matched the dark blue school uniform with a pair of pink Converse, prompting Hyukjae to raise his eyebrows. The boy noticed this and shrugged.

"I love pink, there's nothing more behind my choice of shoes. Its quite amusing though, some teachers think I'm doing some kind of rebellion.... Well, are you lost or not? Cause it sure as hell looks like that"

Hyukjae nodded, to his annoyance it  seemed as he had lost his ability to speak.

"May I see?"

The boy snatched the map right out of Hyukjaes manic grip. He hummed and began walking along the corridor. Hyukjae stood frozen in the same place and understood nothing. Had the boy just really stolen his map? Could the day get any worse?

"Come on then! I'm supposed to show you the way. Sungmin is the name by the way, "the boy shouted without turning around.

It took another few seconds before Hyukjae returned to the present and started to ran to catch up with Sungmin. He proved to be a year older (and somewhat careless of being punctual) and really nice actually. Once they talked a little some of Hyukjaes nervousness released, and he returned to his usual old self. It was not long before they reached the classroom thanks to Sungmin, and Hyukjae bowed a number of times to show his gratitude before he sneaked into the classroom. The attempt to be discreet, however, was destroyed immediately after he successfully tript on his own feet and fell flat on his stomach. The class roared with laughter and the teacher rushed forward to help him up. The old woman gave him some hard words about the importance of coming in time before she gave the rest of the class a murderous look. The laughter died out directly and Hyukjae hurried to his seat. Taeyeon sat right next to him. She discreetly sent him a note when she judged that the situation was calm. He took it and unfolded it carefully.

What an entrance! I promise, you have not been the worst.

A guy fainted and one girl began to cry before.

He looked up and met Taeyeons gaze. He whispered a thank you while he felt his heart swelling with gratitude to his friend.

The class seemed really good to Hyukjaes relief. They quickly became friends with a guy named Onew. The three friends had gone to the dining room together and all had felt just as confused. In the queue, they had recognized a boy from the class staning right in front of them. He turned around with the world's biggest smile as he noticed them behind him.

"It's chicken today!"

He sighed happily and turned back to face the food. The three friends sent each other a few glances and noted that the Onew-guy seemed a bit strange. Donghae shrugged and took a tray. Onew stood impatiently in front of them and shifted from one leg to the other while waiting for his chicken.

"Hey! Calm down chicken boy! You might turn into a chicken yourself!"

A bunch eightgrade students walked past and gave the rude comment. The boy slumped slightly and the enthusiasm seemed to be blown away. Taeyeon snorted and stood beside Onew while she glared at the other students.

"Beware, you might turn into balloons and fly away soon. And with so much air you seem to have in yourself, I guess it should be quite soon. Oh, wait, it had actually not bothered me so much .... Now that I think closer of it, it actually would be just as good if you took wind and flew away. Get lost!"

The group of teenagers looked a little confused at each other before they went their way. They had probably not expected to get talked back at, especially not from a new student that besides that also was a girl. Hyukjae started to laugh and gave Taeyeon a high five. Donghae did the same but also turned to Onew and gave him one as well. Hyukjae smiled when he saw his two friends take care of the slightly different boy. They were truly the nicest people he knew. Onew got his chicken at last and they sat down all four to eating. It turned out that the boy was very funny. The three friends hadn't laughed so much as they did over that lunch, they could at least not remember when they laugh so much.

Onew would later be known as the clown of the class.

At first it was just the four of them who hung around the most in school but their gang was subsequently increased from four to seven. Taeyeon boundade quickly with a girl in their parallel class, Tiffany. The two boys had even been a little worried at first that she would become Taeyeons best friend, and that the other two would end up in the shade. She had, however, started laughing when they told her about their fears and assured them that they would forever be her number one. After that conversation, Tiffany became a close friend to the two boys as well. There was also a girl in the class named Luna which was really nice. Onew was secretly in love with the girl so she also quickly became a part out of the gang (the part of "secretly in love" could be discussed as the boy was anything else than discreet with his emotions) . The last to join them was a boy named Ken, he was somewhat shy at first but turned out to have about the same quirky humor as Onew.

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The first months passed quickly. They had settled down good in their new school. They where somewhere between being the popular students and the nerds, which suited them just fine. Hyukjae had earned some popularity in their first weeks as the rumors about his entrence at the first schoolday had been spread. The students used to stand outside the building in hope to see a glance of the boy and the limo. They would soon get tired of that though since the scene didn't happen again. Hyukjae was determined to take the bus along with Donghae and Taeyeon. As a result his popularity seemed to decrease a little (to Hyukjaes big relife). When he danced at one school event his popularity seemed to grow a little again. A group of female students used to follow him around for some weeks after that. But when he didn't responed to their gifts and calls the excitement died down somewhat. Now he only had about three girls that still hadn't given up the hope of getting his attention. As for Taeyeon she was the popular one of them. She looked good and had a very cool personality that both the girls and the boys seemed to like. It was like the well known quote: "Girls want to be her and boys want to be with her". Donghae was a real looker and got quite a lot attention as a result of that. The rumors about his father was many, however, and because of this people appeard to stay away from him. Donghae didnt care to much about that though, he was happy over the friends he had.

 As the winterbrake approached it was time for their first school dance. The three friends met at Hyukjae before they would go to the dance. Both Donghae and Hyukjae had surprised raised their eyebrows when Taeyeon arrived. She didn't wear make-up in school, but in the honor of the day her older sister had helped her and she looked really good. Hyukjae whistled and winkede at her.

"Not bad!" Donghae agreed.

Taeyeon actually got embarrassed by the flattery which allowed the boys to a little. It was not often that the girl got embarrassed and she would additionally be pretty quick to tease the boys when any of the other got red in the face.

"Oh, shut up!"

She gave them a respective hug before they went up to Hyukjaes room. Hyukjae was still trying to pick out an outfit for the evening. Taeyeon looked a bit annoyed at her watch.

"You know that we are supposed to go in about half an hour right? And I thought I was late!"

Hyukjae just hummed as he continued to look through his clothes.

"Well I want to make out to night... You now since I'm the only ine of us who hasn't done it yet... And if I'm gonna do that I must look top notch!"

Donghae and Taeyeon looked at eachother and started to giggle. Hyukjae sent them a nasty look and didn't pretend that he heard them.

"Seriously though! You don't need to dress good to get attention. Your a king at dancing and with your moves you can hypnotize whatever girl you'd like!" She paused and looked between her two friends. "And besides if it's just the making out part thats bothering you, you always have Donghae. You guys doesn't seem to have a problem kissing eachother. He was the first you kissed so why not letting him be the first one you would make out with to?"

Taeyeon said it with a light voice indicating that she didn't really ment what she said. The boys took it in another what though. This was the first time the atmosphere would become awkward because the tension between the boys. They looked at eachother and both got a clear red color in their faces.

"Ewwwh!" Both of them said it at the same time.

"We are boys!" Donghae claimed with a disgusted tone in his voice.

Taeyeon raised her eyebrows.

"You do realise that that was a joke right?"

Hyukjae gave her one last look before he picked up a shirt and put it before him as he looked in the mirror. He decided that this would be the shirt to wear for the nights event. 

When he had put it on he turned and looked at the others. Donghae had a sweater that was worn out, probably something he inherited from his father. He cleared his throat while he scratched his neck.

"Would you want to lend a shirt or something Donghae?"

The boy looked a bit ashamed but still accepted the offer. He eventually chosed a light blue shirt, it was a bit to big since Hyukjae was a little longer, but not so big that it was sitting bad on him. Taeyeon whistled.

"Looking good Donghae!"

He laughed and spun in front of the mirror.

"It will do, it's not as fine on me as it is on you though, Hyukjae."

Hyukjae smiled. He said nothing but thought to himself:

"No, everything is a thousand times finer on you"

"Guys, we will surely be the best looking trio there!" Tayeon chrimed with a happy look on her face.

They walked arm in arm out to the car that would take them to the dance. Hyukjae had persuaded his mother to let Leeteuk drive them to the disco in one of their regular cars.

It would actually be the first time Hyukjae properly kissed a girl. They had come to the dance and slid in with the world's biggest confidence. They had danced all night long with short breaks which they spent with buying soda and some snacks. Hyukjae had got to shine with his dance skills and many wanted to dance with him. At one point he met Donghaes gaze. It was somthing diffrent in those brown eyes that Hyukjae hadn't seen before. It was almost as if it was lust that glowed in his eyes. Hyukjae had to swallow hard and look a way, some of his own feeling seemed to responed to Donghaes gaze and it feelt a bit confusing. When he looked back at Donghae again the boy wasn't looking at him anymore and danced with some girl. It made Hyukjae feel somewhat jealous, but that was soon blown away when he danced with a pretty girl from the A-class (he did not know her name).

When the last dance approached, and they danced to a slow song Hyukjae tested his luck. He had first given the girl a quick kiss on the mouth, and when she seemed to be more than pleased he had given her a longer kiss. To his surprise, he didn't have to take the initiative to put his tongue in, because she was faster. It had felt strange at first. He didn't know if he did it right and it was just as if they spun around and around with their tongues first. After a while they seemed to have gotten the technique of it all and it didn't feel so gross. The dance was soon over, and they broke the kiss.

They didn't say much to each other, they simply just went separate ways. In the car on the way home, they had talked about everything that happened during the evening. Hyukjae had enthusiastically talked about his kiss (Leeteuk had to swear an oath to never tell anything about the things he heard to Hyukjaes parents. The driver had gladly taken it, he'd probably still wouldn't wanted to take the discussion with the couple Lee). His both friends had cheered and gave him high fives.

Back home again they only answered Mrs. Lee questions about how the evening had been fast, before they ran up to Hyukjaes room. They had planned an overnight stay after the dance. They put on their pajamas and took a seat before the TV while they talked about everything. Taeyeon was the first to fall asleep. She fell asleep on the couch at one in the morning. Donghae turned off the TV before he layed down on his mattress on the floor. Hyukjae looked at him and once again it struck him how nice Donghae looked. He had fixed his hair for the evening and instead of the bangs hanging down in the pan it  was now fixed so the bangs where pushed aside and the pan was bare.

"You can lay here instead if you want Donghae" he whispered.

Donghae looked between Hyukjae and the sleeping Taeyeon before he quietly sneaked away to Hyukjae. He scooted over so that Donghae would fit as well. They said nothing, just layed there and looked at each other. Again Hyukjae had the strange feeling that there was something sensual about the situation, which he could not understand. They were two boys, it could not exist such a thing. Donghae held out his hand and pulled it through Hyukjaes hair. He closed his eyes and felt his heart began to pound in his chest.

"Why do you want me to be here with you?" Donghae whispered.

Hyukjae was a bit taken aback by the question. He did not really know what to say, for once again it was a question he didn't know the answer to. Instead, he shrugged his shoulders.

"I thought it looked uncomfortable on the floor."

Donghae giggled before he sat up.

"No problem. The mattress is actually quite nice. I think it's best that I lay down there. I think it would look a little odd if Taeyeon would wake up and see us lying in bed together. Just think of all the things she would tease us with!"

He rolled around, but before he stood up, he gave Hyukjae a quick kiss on the cheek. Hyukjae watched while the boy laid down on the mattress again. It took a few seconds before he heard Donghae breathing heavily, indicating that he had fallen asleep. His cheek  still felt warm where he had received a kiss.

Silently he wondered how it would feel to kiss Donghae in the same way as he had kissed the girl at the dance. It was also the first time he felt guilty about his own thoughts. Donghae was a boy and Hyukjae was a boy, and boys had no such thoughts about eachother. That night Hyukjae had difficult to fall asleep, and when the friends woke up the day after and Hyukjae made eye contact with a drowsy Donghae, he promised himself to never ever think like that about his friend again.

However, this would prove to be more difficult than he thought.

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Author's note:

Sorry for the late update and poor quality! Have a lot in school at the moment :(